Obinutuzumab as Initial or Second-Line Therapy in Patients With Primary Membranous Nephropathy.

Introduction: B-cell lymphocytes have been demonstrated to play a key role in the pathogenesis underlying membranous nephropathy (MN). The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy and safety of Obinutuzumab, a glycoengineered type II anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody in individuals with MN.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from 59 consecutive patients with primary MN who provided consent to receive Obinutuzumab and were followed for at least 6 months.

Innovative wound management: creating dynamic Alg-Mg/SF hydrogels for controlled Mg release in wound healing.

Antibacterial hydrogels have gained considerable attention for soft tissue repair, particularly in preventing infections associated with wound healing. However, developing an antibacterial hydrogel that simultaneously possesses excellent cell affinity and controlled release of metal ions remains challenging. This study introduces an antibacterial hydrogel based on alginate modified with bisphosphonate, forming a coordination complex with magnesium ions.

Induced retinal pigment epithelial cells with anti-epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition ability delay retinal degeneration.

The hostile microenvironment of the retina in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) may trigger epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of grafted retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells, thus attenuating the therapeutic outcome. Here, we transformed human dedifferentiated induced pluripotent stem cell-derived RPE (iPSC-RPE) cells into induced RPE (iRPE) cells using a cocktail of four transcription factors (TFs)-CRX, MITF-A, NR2E1, and C-MYC. These critical TFs maintained the epithelial property of iRPE cells by regulating the expression of , forkhead box f2, , and , and conferred resistance to TGF-β-induced EMT in iRPE cells by targeting .

Elimination of senescent cells inhibits epithelial-mesenchymal transition of retinal pigment epithelial cells.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the most common leading causes of irreversible blindness, and there is no effective treatment for it. It has been reported that aging is the greatest risk factor for AMD, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells plays an important role in the pathogenesis of AMD. To clarify the relationship between senescence and EMT in RPE cells, we used the replicative senescence model, HO- and/or Nutlin3a-induced senescence model, and low-density and/or TGF-β-induced EMT model to detect the expression of senescence-, RPE- and EMT-related genes, and assessed the motility of cells by using a scratch wound migration assay.

Conditioned Medium of Human Amniotic Epithelial Cells Alleviates Experimental Allergic Conjunctivitis Mainly by IL-1ra and IL-10.

Allergic conjunctivitis (AC) is the most prevalent form of mucosal allergy, and the conditioned medium (CM) from mesenchymal stem cells has been reported to attenuate some allergic diseases. However, the therapeutic effects of CM from different tissue stem cells (TSC-CM) on allergic diseases have not been tested. Here, we studied the effects of topical administration of different human TSC-CM on experimental AC (EAC) mice.

Research Progress in Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations of Membrane Distillation Processes: A Review.

Membrane distillation (MD) can be used in drinking water treatment, such as seawater desalination, ultra-pure water production, chemical substances concentration, removal or recovery of volatile solutes in an aqueous solution, concentration of fruit juice or liquid food, and wastewater treatment. However, there is still much work to do to determine appropriate industrial implementation. MD processes refer to thermally driven transport of vapor through non-wetted porous hydrophobic membranes, which use the vapor pressure difference between the two sides of the membrane pores as the driving force.

Effectively Intervening Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition of Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells With a Combination of ROCK and TGF-β Signaling Inhibitors.

Purpose: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells is a key pathological event in proliferative retinal diseases such as proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). This study aimed to explore a new method to reverse EMT in RPE cells to develop an improved therapy for proliferative retinal diseases.

Methods: In vitro, human embryonic stem cell-derived RPE cells were passaged and cultured at low density for an extended period of time to establish an EMT model.

A cell culture condition that induces the mesenchymal-epithelial transition of dedifferentiated porcine retinal pigment epithelial cells.

The pathological change of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells is one of the main reasons for the development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Thus, cultured RPE cells are a proper cell model for studying the etiology of AMD in vitro. However, such cultured RPE cells easily undergo epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) that results in changes of cellular morphology and functions of the cells.

Influence of mixing on anaerobic digestion efficiency in stirred tank digesters: A review.

A comprehensive review was carried out on the influence of mixing on anaerobic digestion (AD) efficiency in stirred tank anaerobic digesters. Though traditionally, stirred tank digesters operated as continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTRs), this review revealed that there is no motivation to continue to operate stirred tank anaerobic digesters as CSTRs if AD energy efficiency is to be improved. AD energy production efficiency can be achieved with optimized intermittent mixing.

Modeling heat loss from the udder of a dairy cow.

A mechanistic model that predicts sensible and latent heat fluxes from the udder of a dairy cow was developed. The prediction of the model was spot validated against measured data from the literature, and the result agreed within 7% of the measured value for the same ambient temperature. A dairy cow can lose a significant amount of heat (388W/m(2)) from the udder.

Modeling conductive cooling for thermally stressed dairy cows.

Conductive cooling, which is based on direct contact between a cow lying down and a cooled surface (water mattress, or any other heat exchanger embedded under the bedding), allows heat transfer from the cow to the cooled surface, and thus alleviate heat stress of the cow. Conductive cooling is a novel technology that has the potential to reduce the consumption of energy and water in cooling dairy cows compared to some current practices. A three-dimensional conduction model that simulates cooling thermally-stressed dairy cows was developed.

Quantum Hall effect in hydrogenated graphene.

The quantum Hall effect is observed in a two-dimensional electron gas formed in millimeter-scale hydrogenated graphene, with a mobility less than 10  cm2/V·s and corresponding Ioffe-Regel disorder parameter (k(F)λ)(-1) ≫ 1. In a zero magnetic field and low temperatures, the hydrogenated graphene is insulating with a two-point resistance of the order of 250h/e2. The application of a strong magnetic field generates a negative colossal magnetoresistance, with the two-point resistance saturating within 0.

Integration of mixing, heat transfer, and biochemical reaction kinetics in anaerobic methane fermentation.

An extensive investigation of anaerobic methane fermentation requires identifying the relationship between the physical environment and biological process. In this study, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique was used to characterize bacterial fermentation mechanisms intertwined with mixing and heat transfer in anaerobic digesters. The results demonstrate that the methane yield remains almost unchanged while the energy efficiency decreases with increasing mixing power in a complete-mix digester, and that the energy output increases nonlinearly with the increase in heating energy in a plug-flow digester.

CFD simulation of mixing for high-solids anaerobic digestion.

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model that simulates mechanical mixing for high-solids anaerobic digestion was developed. Numerical simulations of mixing manure slurry which exhibits non-Newtonian pseudo-plastic fluid behavior were performed for six designs: (i) one helical ribbon impeller; (ii) one anchor impeller; (iii) one curtain-type impeller; (iv) three counterflow (CF-2) impellers; (v) two modified high solidity (MHS 3/39°) impellers; and (vi) two pitched blade turbine impellers. The CFD model was validated against measurements for mixing a Herschel-Bulkley fluid by ribbon and anchor impellers.

Large eddy simulation of mechanical mixing in anaerobic digesters.

A comprehensive study of anaerobic digestion requires an advanced turbulence model technique to accurately predict mixing flow patterns because the digestion process that involves mass transfer between anaerobes and their substrates is primarily dependent on detailed information about the fine structure of turbulence in the digesters. This study presents a large eddy simulation (LES) of mechanical agitation of non-Newtonian fluids in anaerobic digesters, in which the sliding mesh method is used to characterize the impeller rotation. The three subgrid scale (SGS) models investigated are: (i) Smagorinsky-Lilly model, (ii) wall-adapting local eddy-viscosity model, and (iii) kinetic energy transport (KET) model.

Modeling liquid distribution in soil after pocket injection.

Information on liquid distribution after injection of liquid manure is important to the evaluation of injection methods and the design of injection tools. A two-dimensional numerical model was developed to predict liquid distribution in the soil around a soil pocket. Model outputs are the lateral spread (L), vertical thickness (T), and cross-sectional area (A) of the liquid infiltration zone.

An integrated physical and biological model for anaerobic lagoons.

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model that integrates physical and biological processes for anaerobic lagoons is presented. In the model development, turbulence is represented using a transition k-ω model, heat conduction and solar radiation are included in the thermal model, biological oxygen demand (BOD) reduction is characterized by first-order kinetics, and methane yield rate is expressed as a linear function of temperature. A test of the model applicability is conducted in a covered lagoon digester operated under tropical climate conditions.

CFD investigation of turbulence models for mechanical agitation of non-Newtonian fluids in anaerobic digesters.

This study evaluates six turbulence models for mechanical agitation of non-Newtonian fluids in a lab-scale anaerobic digestion tank with a pitched blade turbine (PBT) impeller. The models studied are: (1) the standard k-ɛ model, (2) the RNG k-ɛ model, (3) the realizable k-ɛ model, (4) the standard k-ω model, (5) the SST k-ω model, and (6) the Reynolds stress model. Through comparing power and flow numbers for the PBT impeller obtained from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with those from the lab specifications, the realizable k-ɛ and the standard k-ω models are found to be more appropriate than the other turbulence models.

Computational fluid dynamics investigation of turbulence models for non-newtonian fluid flow in anaerobic digesters.

In this paper, 12 turbulence models for single-phase non-newtonian fluid flow in a pipe are evaluated by comparing the frictional pressure drops obtained from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with those from three friction factor correlations. The turbulence models studied are (1) three high-Reynolds-number k-ε models, (2) six low-Reynolds-number k-ε models, (3) two k-ω models, and (4) the Reynolds stress model. The simulation results indicate that the Chang-Hsieh-Chen version of the low-Reynolds-number k-ε model performs better than the other models in predicting the frictional pressure drops while the standard k-ω model has an acceptable accuracy and a low computing cost.

CFD simulation of gas and non-Newtonian fluid two-phase flow in anaerobic digesters.

This paper presents an Eulerian multiphase flow model that characterizes gas mixing in anaerobic digesters. In the model development, liquid manure is assumed to be water or a non-Newtonian fluid that is dependent on total solids (TS) concentration. To establish the appropriate models for different TS levels, twelve turbulence models are evaluated by comparing the frictional pressure drops of gas and non-Newtonian fluid two-phase flow in a horizontal pipe obtained from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with those from a correlation analysis.

CFD simulation of mixing in egg-shaped anaerobic digesters.

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model that characterizes mechanical draft tube mixing in egg-shaped anaerobic digesters was developed. Simulation of flow patterns were carried out with a propeller rotating from 400 to 750rpm, assuming liquid manure to be Newtonian (water) and non-Newtonian fluids depending on the total solids (TS) concentration. Power number and flow number of the propeller in water mixing were validated against lab specifications and experimental data from a field test.

CFD simulation of non-Newtonian fluid flow in anaerobic digesters.

A general mathematical model that predicts the flow fields in a mixed-flow anaerobic digester was developed. In this model, the liquid manure was assumed to be a non-Newtonian fluid, and the flow governed by the continuity, momentum, and k-epsilon standard turbulence equations, and non-Newtonian power law model. The commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, Fluent, was applied to simulate the flow fields of lab-scale, scale-up, and pilot-scale anaerobic digesters.